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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Better By the Pound

Some of you know that, when I'm not drawing funnybooks for a long-suffering audience (that's you), I like to scan ancient, crumbling newspaper strip cuttings and share them with like-minded enthusiasts, with the intention of preserving this old, out-of-print and sometimes brilliant work for future generations before it turns completely to dust. I'm far from alone in this; there is a small, dedicated network of strip enthusiasts who are doing the same, trying to keep the great newspaper strips of the 1920s and 30s from being lost forever.

So I'd like to draw your attention to a project that one of my fellow archivists, Steve Cottle, Jr., is currently undertaking. He is attempting to buy a collection of old newspaper comics with the intention of scanning them and putting them online for readers, academics and anybody who cares about the history of the comics medium to enjoy - for free - at ilovecomixarchive.com. The collection is staggeringly huge - so large that the only estimate of its size we have is by weight (8000 lbs!) - and the current owner is looking to get rid of it by any means possible. Steve has negotiated a knock-down bargain price for this material, but even this is beyond his own private means, so he's started up a Kickstarter Project to try and raise the necessary funds to purchase, transport, scan and preserve the work. I urge you to contribute something if the history of the comics medium is something you care about. If this material is preserved, we all benefit from it.

There's a link on the right-hand side of the blog - look, just over there! - which will explain all the details. (Or just click here if you're reading this in an RSS feed or something.) Thanks for your consideration.

3 comments:

I've already donated $15 and would like to donate more before the deadline. I've also mentioned Steve's project on my Facebook page (which may be slightly less than useless, since I have virtually no friends).